Proximity
by mew-tsubaki
Summary: There's a lot that Oikawa Tooru can do with approximations. *An AU oneshot set in my Birds of a Feather AU, but may be read on its own; set after "Opportunity" in the BoaF collection; light slash.


**Proximity**

A Haikyuu! oneshot

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The _Haikyuu!_ characters belong to Furudate Haruichi-sensei, not to me. Yes, time for some Oiwa/Iwaoi in the _Birds of a Feather_ AU. BUT! This fic stands on its own so you don't _have_ to read the fics in the BoaF collection to enjoy this. Have a moment with the dorkiest dork in all of _HQ!_ ;P Read, review, and enjoy! *Note: Though you don't have to read the BoaF fics to enjoy this, things _will_ be clearer if you do; this is set after the 6th story, "Opportunity" and after the Matsuwata oneshot "Comfort Seekers" (links at bottom of my FFN profile).

\- ^-^3

From home to work: just under a hundred yards.

From the gym's front door to the court edge: about thirty feet, roughly the width of the play area.

From the floor to the top of the net: just shy of eight feet.

From him to the libero: usually between two and six feet.

From him to the net: between two to six inches on a good day.

From his fingertips to the perfect hit: …well, that varied too much to say.

Nevertheless, Ushijima smacked his toss over the net, perfect bastard he was. He could make even the crappiest of Oikawa's tosses seem right and planned, much to the setter's chagrin. And now he turned to Oikawa with that blank face of his and said plainly, "Good, but a smaller arc for my straights."

Oikawa's eye twitched. "Come again?"

Ushijima cocked his head to one side, no doubt unsure how he could be any clearer.

But, before Oikawa could remind Ushijima that the ace had said something _entirely different_ at practice last week, Kuroo stepped in front of the setter and pushed him back a safe distance. "I thought we had that talk about using 'please' and 'thank you,' Ushijima," Kuroo reminded the volleyball idiot with the same tone a parent used to scold a very small child. Then the spiky-haired sly guy turned that tone on Oikawa. "And I thought _you_ were going to practice counting to five before you turn murderous around him, Oikawa," he said with raised eyebrows—well, eyebrow, considering the other was hidden by his hair.

Oikawa shook him off. "I'm on my best behavior, Kuro-chan. Honest," he added when Kuroo stared at him unnervingly.

The middle blocker put his hands on his hips and released a low breath. "Hey, man, I'm just reminding you to watch yourself." He jerked his chin to the sidelines. "Remember part of your motivation for playing nice."

He didn't have to look to know to whom Kuroo referred. Oikawa had felt that dark blue pair of eyes on his back for what felt like his entire life. The only difference now was that that person no longer idolized him. No, they stood on even ground now, equals, and that…was somewhat of a relief. It made playing with him, professionally, rather interesting…

…but Kuroo was right. Good behavior meant he got _just this_ much more play time than Kageyama, and Oikawa was damned if he didn't hold on to that time, especially as their coach was using their two best setters almost evenly nowadays.

Between that and two rotations during morning practice, Oikawa walked it off, his momentary irritation with Ushijima. In truth, he knew that Ushijima was one of the things that kept F.C. Tokyo at the top of the V. Premier League.

Kageyama was another, switched in often to keep Oikawa's fatigue to a minimum and vice versa. When that wasn't a concern or when F.C. needed to go all out, Kageyama would come on the court at the same time and flex those insane blocking and wing spiker skills he'd sharpened over the years. There was even talk of Kageyama joining the roster for the national team after this season, but that didn't make Oikawa jealous. Kuroo had played for the team last year, Oikawa and Ushijima twice in the past three years. And, even if they didn't play, having one's name just as a reserve was no small feat. Basically, F.C. had the cream of the crop, and the rest of the members were dependable forces to be reckoned with, too.

Oikawa breathed and steadied himself as he came up to serve. He spun the Mikasa ball in his hands, blue and yellow spinning, blurring, but never blending into green. His fellow regulars called for a good serve as he ran up, and he could finally see the green as he smacked the ball at the apex…green on the faces of their junior members on the other side of the net, junior members who were getting their fill today of what it was like to face down paid, professional monsters.

Kuroo was right, Oikawa thought with a smirk as the junior members were scolded by an assistant coach for avoiding receiving his serve. Times like these really made the good behavior worth it.

\- ^-^3

After morning practice and cool-down exercises, Oikawa returned to the team dorms to eat lunch in the cafeteria. Actually, most of the guys tended to, even if they brought their lunch with them.

"Although I find the sea of blue and red to be nauseating at times," Oikawa remarked, somewhat to himself but not minding that Kuroo was beside him and within earshot.

Kuroo snickered. "Years at F.C., and you're only saying that _now_?"

Oikawa shrugged, but he _was_ a bit miffed. "It's different when you return to the dorms at the end of the day, too, Kuro-chan, instead of home to a calico kitten."

The middle blocker rolled his eyes. "It's not an insult to call Kenma what he is, you know. What, getting bitchy 'cause you're feeling homesick?" he inquired as they found a place to sit.

Oikawa pouted and cupped his cheek in his palm. "No. Yes. Wait, is there a third option?"

"When was the last time you saw Iwaizumi?"

"Before Golden Week."

Kuroo gawked at him. "Three months ago?!" He shook off his incredulity. "Then when did you last talk to him?" he indulged his friend.

At that, Oikawa perked up, and he started to eat. "Just yesterday. He called to vent about Seijou. Our former coach, Irihata-sensei, came out of retirement for, like, a week because he doesn't think Iwa-chan and Mizoguchi-san are doing enough to shape my nephew's team into winners."

"Your nephew's team?"

The setter puffed out his chest more like a proud papa than a proud uncle. "Yep! Takeru takes after Iwa-chan, being a wing spiker, but he's a third year and the ace."

"Cripes… You _do_ realize you guys aren't his parents? You'd be scary parents," he commented as he ate his fish sandwich. He didn't even blink when Oikawa flicked a carrot from his salad at him.

"Getting back on topic…," the brunet groused. "I talk to Iwa-chan almost every day. Have for the past twenty-plus years."

"Damn. He ain't sick of you yet?"

Oikawa stuck his tongue out at him, but he never told Kuroo off for teasing him. It wasn't just that Oikawa was used to ribbing from the likes of Hanamaki and Matsukawa, so Kuroo was nothing by comparison. In actuality, he appreciated the attention, because the teasing and the daily phone calls with Iwaizumi kept Oikawa from feeling down in the dumps about being on opposite ends of the country from his childhood friend and soulmate. Oikawa sighed happily at the term.

"I'll flick your own salad back at you if you're thinking pervy thoughts, man. I'm not sticking around for that."

"Yeah, yeah… You think _this_ is bad? Try living in the dorms."

Right as he said that, some ridiculousness erupted a few tables over, and both of them turned to get a look. But the "commotion" was only Ushijima and Kageyama gawking over some magazine article that Amigawa, their second-string libero, shared with them.

"Good gods…"

Kuroo guffawed at the sight. "No wonder the volleyball idiots get along so well. They've got the same, one-track mind!"

He'd had years of this, and Oikawa figured there were still several more to come.

"Ah, Oikawa-san?"

He and Kuroo looked at the plain guy with slicked-back hair standing to Oikawa's left. He wasn't a volleyball player but a grunt elsewhere in F.C., and Oikawa recognized him from his floor. "Umino, right?" he said, smiling so maybe the guy would stop trembling. The non-players and the junior members all acted the same way when they first spoke with him.

"Yes… There's, um, someone calling for you at the main desk. A Watari-san?"

Just the name zapped Oikawa out of his seat. He shoved his tray towards Kuroo and made for the lobby.

"Oi! What about lunch?! Coach is gonna sideline your ass for evening practice!" Kuroo growled after him.

"Then let him sideline me!"

He jogged past the first-floor rooms and slowed when he reached the small lobby at the main gate. His heart soared when he saw not one but _two_ of his friends signing their names in the visitors' log.

"Watacchi _and_ Mattsun?"

Watari, sweet little angel who hadn't aged in a decade, smiled and waved, and he caught Oikawa as the setter jumped on him with a gigantic hug. The only thing that kept him from falling backwards was Matsukawa, who stood behind him with his arms wrapped pretty possessively around Aoba Johsai's fitness trainer. "Hello to you, too," the shaven-haired shorty said with a laugh.

Oikawa kept glancing between the two of them, elated. "What are you guys doing here? No one ever visits! Makki and Shigeru-kun and Kindaichi make a game every now and then, but—ow, ow, ow, _ow_ , _OW_ , Mattsun, I get it, letting go now," he grumbled, disentangling himself from Watari after Matsukawa pinched the backs of the setter's hands. Oikawa rubbed the sore spots and pouted at the silent giant, who received no reprimand from his tiny boyfriend.

"I'm actually wrapping up a surprise vacation," Watari answered. "Irihata-sensei—"

"—came out of retirement, I heard." Oikawa sighed but smiled. "Still, I appreciate you swinging by. Iwa-chan said Sensei's been troublesome…" Though he knew better, he couldn't help peeking around his friends. "Um…is it really only you guys…? You're not hiding Iwa-chan around the corner or in the gym or something…?"

"Sorry, no."

Of course not. "Yeah, I knew that… With qualifiers this week, Iwa-chan's home, getting the kids ready." He ran a hand through his hair and laughed at his own silliness.

Watari exchanged a look with Matsukawa, and then he reached out and patted Oikawa's arm. "Oikawa-san… I don't have an excuse for Issei-san never visiting—"

"Hey, I _work_ ," Matsukawa interjected.

"—and you know where I usually am, but Iwaizumi-san?" He looked up at his former captain and smiled when Oikawa's eyes met his. "He tries to watch every match, in person."

"Huh?" Were his ears playing tricks on him?

But Watari nodded. "He can't always swing it, either because of work or he can't reserve a seat on the Shinkansen—which he has to take to make sure he gets home the same day—but he tries. And, when that fails, he watches all your videos online."

Holy… _crap_. Suddenly Oikawa wished he didn't have an audience to see him turn redder than his F.C. uniform. "Watacchi…!"

Matsukawa tapped his watch on his wrist then and showed Watari. "Shinji, you're gonna miss your train."

"Ah, crap!"

"Wait!" Oikawa stopped him. "Um…there's _no_ way I'll be able to hide from him that I know this." He frowned at Watari.

But the trainer was unfazed. "He won't kill me. I've got more stories from our joint Golden Week training camp with Karasuno, Johzenji, and Datekou that he won't want me to share," he said casually.

Matsukawa went "Whoa, Shinji~" and Oikawa agreed he had newfound respect for his polite yet ballsy friend.

"So I may be ten days late…"

"Hmm?"

"…but happy belated birthday, Oikawa-san."

Oikawa laughed, grinning so hard that it hurt. But he felt that his heart, which he didn't know had needed it, healed, and he waved to his friends as they left, staying there until they were long gone from sight and until Iwaizumi and volleyball were the only remaining thoughts in the setter's head.

\- ^-^3

So.

It wasn't really that Iwaizumi rarely came down to see him.

This idea kept Oikawa gloating like mad in the evening, and he didn't even mind that he was, in fact, benched by the head coach for not finishing his lunch earlier. He was just too excited to get back to his room and call Seijou's stern assistant coach…his soulmate.

This time, when he sighed happily, he was fairly certain Kuroo would deem this smile "content" and not "pervy."

Usually Oikawa was happy to stay behind after practice and share his thoughts with the staff and players—remnant captain traits from his Seijou days that were important to display if he wanted to become an F.C. coach in the future—but tonight was different. Tonight he was one of the first boarders back in the dorms, grabbing a ready-to-eat dinner for later on his way to his room on the third floor. He'd hit the showers later, too.

He flopped onto his bed with his phone and dialed Iwaizumi. The rings were loud in his quiet room, but Iwaizumi's "Hey" was simultaneously gruff and soft as it'd always been with Oikawa.

"Hi, Iwa-chan~"

He could picture Iwaizumi rolling his eyes, but the assistant coach only chuckled. "What can I do for you, Oikawa? It's early to hear from you. Club just wrapped up here. Everyone's mostly in shape for the qualifiers."

Oikawa quirked an eyebrow, his next comment gone in favor of a question: "Wait. ' _Mostly_ everyone'?"

"Er…just a minor hiccup with Takeru…"

"Iwa-chan."

Iwaizumi sighed. "Don't worry. You know I look out for him."

Oikawa smiled to himself. "Yeah, I do know."

"So I repeat: It's early to hear from you."

"Yep. I was just thinking about when you'll next be here."

"Considering it's summer vacation, I'll be down for the last full week before break ends. We'll celebrate our birthdays properly then."

"And after that?"

"Huh?" He paused. "Oikawa, what're you getting at?"

"I think you'll be back in October, after prefectural qualifiers."

He could _hear_ Iwaizumi's hackles go up, embarrassed as the hothead was. "What! No, I won't!"

"Oh, really? I have it on good authority that a certain Iwaizumi Hajime tries to watch _all_ of F.C.'s games in person."

Iwaizumi grunted. "…damn. Watari?"

"Watari," Oikawa confirmed.

"Wow. I didn't think he had it in him. Hanamaki or Yahaba or Kunimi, definitely. But damn. I'll have to be more careful around him in the future."

Oikawa rolled his eyes. "Iwa-chan, that's not the point." He hesitated. "You _know_ I wish we saw each other more often."

His lover made a bashful noise halfway between a sigh and a grumble. "I know. But you're killing it, with F.C., you know. You like Kageyama now—"

"Eh."

"—and you tolerate Ushijima."

Oikawa pursed his lips. "'Tolerate' is a pretty strong word."

"Don't be petty. In a year, we'll be thirty years old. It's stupid to keep acting like a kid." He took a deep breath. "He's your ace now. It's okay to trust him."

Oikawa made a face at that idea.

"…just don't trust him as much as you trust me," Iwaizumi added in a tiny voice.

He couldn't help it: He laughed. "Oh, Iwa-chan…" It was hard to take the physical distance between them so seriously when Iwaizumi said such endearing things and did so sincerely, as if he were right beside Oikawa, making everything better.

But something to consider seriously? Maybe Oikawa needed to stop fooling around with his idea and actually get a Miyagi-based Premier League team going….

\- ^-^3

 **XD With all of the drama and angst going on with other post-"Opportunity" side stories, I wanted something lighthearted with Iwaoi, so this cute thing happened. Like several of the other fics, this story was planned towards the beginning of BoaF in 2014, but I only got to write it now. I think Oikawa being teammates with Ushijima is hilarious (and something I've explored in that Iwaizumi & Kasamatsu cousins AU, which starts with "Mutual Hate"), but this lineup has me laughing so hard. Ushijima, Oikawa, Kageyama, Kuroo… XD Kuroo's a good friend, tho. ;] Kuro-chan… *lol* Also, while I've been using a fantastic tumblr source to help with my BoaF headcanons for the pro players (though some of those measurements in the opening are based on official ones for the volleyball net), I'll admit to playing a bit fast and loose with team scheduling and remarks about the national team (as I mentioned in my closing A/N in "Conscious of You"). Watari's also right about the Shinkansen (the bullet train) not being cheap, which is why that wasn't an option for Ennoshita in "Closing." Let's see… I guess just two things: Yeah, I love Oikawa Takeru, and you'll see him again, no worries (and he's in "Comfort Seekers" a bit, if you've not yet read that); and the song for this fic was the jaunty "Hanare nai ni nin" by Sambomaster. The frenetic pace of the song fits Oikawa, IMO, and it fits his excitement in the fic, too. XD**

 **Thank you very much for reading, and please review/comment/leave an ask! The next fic in the BoaF collection, "Personal Day," will take a while since it has its own fair share of side stories, but I hope you can enjoy the other side stories while you wait, and please visit the BoaF tumblr page (on my tumblr, le-amewzing) for lotsa stuff~! Show your support for this AU, and share your excitement for it, too!**

 **-mew-tsubaki XD**


End file.
